Q&A: Aerowatch co-owner discusses ‘7 Time Zones’ creation

Aerowatch is one of last original independent family-owned watchmaking companies in Switzerland. The brand’s sales and marketing manager Jean-Sébastien Bolzli spoke to WatchPro about a potential break into the UK market and its unique take on a worldtimer.

WP: How long has Aerowatch been around? What’s the unique selling point of the brand?

JSB: Aerowatch was founded in 1910 in La Chaux-de Fonds. The brand is producing a wide range of mechanical & quartz timepieces since 1910 without any interruption. Aerowatch is one of the last original family-owned companies from Switzerland which remains independent. Aerowatch is offering timekeepers which are excellent value for money. I would say: ‘affordable Swiss Craftsmanship.’

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WP: What was the inspiration behind your ‘7 Time Zones’ watch?

JSB: The idea for this design came to my brother Fred-Eric (our watch constructor) after looking at watches with multiple time zones available from other brands. He noticed that legibility was often problematic, and that some models had quartz movements. His idea was to offer a mechanical watch that was different: easy to read, with multiple displays, at an affordable price.

WP: What does this timepiece offer that other worldtimers don’t?

JSB: One timepiece – seven time zones!

In the centre of the dial are hour and minute hands indicating local time, and six 24-hour counters indicating the time in six of the world’s metropolises. The choice of these cities can of course vary according to clients’ wishes, but for our part we chose London, Moscow, Dubai, Tokyo, Shanghai and New York, which are the most popular cities in terms of business development possibilities.

A pusher at 10 o’clock makes it possible to conveniently set the hands to local time at the owner’s current location. The displays of the subsidiary dials remain unaffected. This adjustment is needed only when the owner travels across time zones.

WP: What ambitions do you have for the UK watch market, especially with the luxury segment performing better than almost any other country in the world at the moment?

JSB: As an independent Swiss brand, we are very interested in the UK watch market. We are looking for a long term partnership with a distributor or retailers. Until now we haven‘t been successful in this research therefore we have opened our own online shop in order to start selling in the UK. We have our own service centre in the UK which is taking care of our after sales service.